Spirits of the Elements- Before the Guardians
by DragonEmerald98
Summary: The Guardians haven't been around forever. This is the tale of what came before... of the Spirits of the Elements. This was a spark of inspiration that I couldn't ignore! Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Alright- so I was hit by sudden inspiration. I have a recent love of Rise of the Guardians, and then the idea of prequel hit me. Which is weird, cuz I don't even know the main story yet. Oh, well- I'll get over it. Hope you enjoy! First is the prologue, to introduce the story. Chapter 1 should be up not too long afterwards.**

****Today, the children of the world live under the protection of the Guardians.

North, the guardian best known as Santa Claus, protecting the wonder of childhood with a heart of gold and a strong sense of justice.

The Tooth Fairy, protecting the memories of children with her valor and kindness.

The Easter Bunny; Bunnymund; protecting children's hope with bravery and heart.

The Sandman, guardian of dreams, protecting the hopes and dreams of all the children.

And now, Jack Frost, the guardian of fun, protecting the children of the world with his unbreakable spirit and childlike mischief.

The guardians protect against the evil Pitch, otherwise known as the "boogeyman", who brings nightmares and creates fear in children's hearts.

The Man in the Moon is like the overseer of the guardians, watching over them and helping whenever he can.

But the Guardians have not been around forever. Even they had to have been "born" sometime. So who defended children before the era of the guardians? Most have forgotten the tales, the heartfelt stories once told by a warm fire now left to fade away in favor of legends of jolly, rosy-cheeked men coming down the chimney, of giant bunnies hiding decorated eggs, of fairies trading teeth for shiny coins, of sand men giving happy dreams, and of young fun-loving boys bringing winter to the world. But for those who have clung to the stories of old, there was a time before these legends came to light.

This is the time telling legends of elfish spitfires, of boisterous thunderheads, of lighthearted raindrops, and of dark powers unknown to the world. This is the time of the stories of believing in the unseen, of childish faith, of unyielding courage, of unbridled freedom, and of blood-curdling fear. This is the tale of the era of the Spirits of the Elements.

Alexandra, the spirit of the sun, the embodiment of courage.

Jonathan, the spirit of the shadows, embodiment of fear.

Leonardo, the spirit of the storm, the embodiment of anger.

Demetri, the spirit of the ocean and the rain, the embodiment of trust.

Kanjir, spirit of the earth, embodiment of faith.

Katelyn, spirit of song, embodiment of music.

And last, but not least, sweet little Everelle, the spirit of the moon, the embodiment of peace.

The people of old believed in these ancient spirits, the spirits' parts in their survival unquestionable. They lived in a delicate balance, one which kept the people happy and in constant comfort, knowing their world was in good hands. But, at one point, all good things must come to an end. And sometimes, it just takes one wrong move, one misstep into evil, to turn even the most peaceful and loving of people into coldhearted monsters.


	2. Chapter 2

**You guys made me feel all happy and fuzzy! Yep, fuzzy- and I just had a five minute spaz-attack where I laughed non-stop until I cried a little and it hurt to laugh. Then I laughed about laughing hard. Yeah, I've got a serious laughing problem...** **Anyways, here's the next chapter! It's kinda slow, but the action should start in the next chapter! And, I wanna know if you guys wanna see what all the other Spirits do as their "jobs" before the next chapter, or if you just wanna get going. I'll probably post the next chapter tomorrow, so review quick!**

****The air was cold and dark, the sky black as the ground below. Most people still lay asleep in their beds, but two figures sat on the steps of their house, waiting patiently, eyes scanning the horizon as they did every morning. One was a grown woman, with blonde hair tied back in a messy ponytail, and wearing a blue robe over her nightclothes for warmth. In her lap, a little girl of about six sat, long red hair tied in a single braid with a small, bright blue ribbon. She was wearing a white nightgown, her legs hanging over the steps of her house as she nearly bounced in anticipation.

Out of sight in the skies above, a black form darted away, disappearing into the far west. For a moment, the darkness seemed to waver, almost looking murky and foglike. But just as soon as one might have noticed the change, it disappeared. Not a moment later, another shape, this one slightly different in form, arose from the east, skin glowing like a desert flower in an oasis. The darkness cut right through, the shadowy cloak of night giving way to soft, warm light. The sky morphed to a beautiful portrait of purples, reds, oranges, and yellows, each color like a bright splash of paint on a black canvas.

"Look, mommy! The sunrise is so pretty!" The little girl squealed in excitement, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet and pointing eastward as she tugged on her mother's hand. A soft smile overtook the woman's face, momentarily causing her to seem much younger. Memories danced behind her emerald green eyes, as she knew the tales of the sun spirit. Gathering her child in her lap, she rested her chin gently on the young girl's head as they both watched the sun begin its journey across the sky.

"Do you remember the story of the sun spirit, Rose?" The woman asked quietly. The little girl smiled even wider, her chocolate brown eyes sparkling in wonder and excitement.

"Uh-huh! Grandma told me that one when I asked her why the sun does what it does." Getting comfortable and tucking herself closer to her mother, Rose began to proudly reiterate the tale, her young, high-pitched voice like a tiny bell sounding through the silence.

"Grandma said that the sun spirit, Alexandra, has to show the sun which way to go in the morning, so that nighttime doesn't last forever. She says that Alexandra looks kinda like Big Sis, and looks young 'cause she lives forever. Grandma also says that the warmth of the sun is in her smile, and that she wears pretty red, orange, and yellow colors because the sun likes those colors. It follows her across the sky, rising in the east in the morning," Rose pointed to where the sun was rising as she spoke, "and setting in the west when it's time to sleep." She pointed to the opposite direction as she finished her "story".

"Mm-hm. The sun spirit makes it warm and bright so you can play with your friends every day, Rose." The woman said softly, smiling and hugging the little girl and causing her to giggle.

"Really? She does it for me?" Rose asked in excitement, her six year old mind gleeful as she craned her head to look back at her mother. The woman nodded, before talking again, speaking in a voice that could make any child excited about what she was saying.

"Yup. And they say, if you really, truly believe in the sun spirit, and if you're really lucky, you might see her luring the sun out into the sky one day." At that, the little girl's eyes widened, the orbs of brown shining in giddy happiness.

"I believe! I believe in the sun spirit, mommy!" As if to prove her point, Rose stood up, looking at the sunrise again with new-found determination. "I'm gonna see her one day!" Giving a chuckle, the woman smiled, standing up next to her rambunctious child.

"I'm sure you will, Rose. I'm sure of it."

If Rose had listened very hard, she would have heard a confident, lighthearted laugh sound through the air, a laugh like that of a child praised for a job well done. And had she looked up, high up into the clouds, she might have seen a young girl, about the age of fourteen, entire body loosely hanging from a very, very high wire, and a wide smile that could've lit up New York in an instant. Her eyes were sparkling with that mischievously happy smile, the burnt-orange irises flickering like fire every time she blinked, and her messy brown-orange hair caught the sun's beams in such a way that it seemed to glow brighter, the faintest of red and yellow highlights adding a glint of differentiation.

With a whoop of exuberance so loud it could have given Bigfoot a run for his money, the girl launched from the wire, revealing the burn marks left where her body had touched it, and she was off like a bullet, flying high. The sun seemed to react, slowly beginning to follow the fiery trail sh, as she closed her eyes, and four thin scarves- two around her neck, two around her waist- rose and billowed behind her like flags. The scarves were the exact colors of flames, and when she flew so fast, her body seemed to glow as they lit aflame, making her look like a human torch as she shot across the sky. Her smile only grew- she loved this feelie was creatingng. Anyone else- or any_thing_ else, for that matter- would have burned to a crisp at how hot she was at that moment. But after all, she _was_ the _sun _spirit!

As a thought crossed her mind, though, her wide grin faltered, slowly becoming an exasperated frown. She had to meet the others- to discuss, of course, Zoey and Leo causing trouble. _Again._ Blowing a tuft of hair out of her face in annoyance, she bulleted forward, leaving a streak of fiery light behind her.

**Hmm... I guess I like how this chapter turned out. I dunno. What do you guys think? Lemme know; I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow. BTW- CAN'T WAIT FOR RISE OF THE GUARDIANS TO COME OUT!**


	3. Chapter 3

"All you ever talk about is destruction! Your stupid storms never do any good!" A seemingly-fifteen year old girl was screaming angrily. A pair of grey-blue orbs narrowed dangerously at the boy in front of her, long silver hair tied in a ponytail behind her, she had a voice like a swift breeze blowing through a forest, light and loose, yet not without a hidden surge of independence and endurance. Her skin was pale, with a silver-grey tint to it, that made her seem like the north wind itself. She was barefoot, and wore a sleeveless grey tanktop, along with a pair of light whitish-grey shorts, her thin, roguish figure completing her "look".

The boy, looking to be eighteen, looked angry as well, but he had an air of cocky confidence, and looked more annoyed than angered. His fierce, lightning yellow eyes seemed to spark with drive, his dark black-blonde hair only adding to the look of a typhoon ready to strike an island off the map. He had the complexion of a stormcloud, dark and powerful, with a muscled figure, and he looked ready to tackle anything headfirst, guns a blazing.

Arms crossed and looking down at the girl condescendingly, the boy responded, his voice cocky.

"This coming from the girl who caused a hurricane when she threw a little _temper tantrum_." He smiled slyly as the girl seethed, fists clenching. She stepped forward threateningly, looking up at him, as powerful winds began to cyclone around her wrists and ankles.

"I'm going to kill you!" The boy smirked, his voice heavy with mocking sarcasm as he made a few arm gestures to only add to the effect.

"Oh, I'm _soo_ scared of a little _wind_!" The girl's eyes widened, before narrowing to slits, obviously done playing.

"That's it!" At that moment, she launched herself at him, pulling her fist back quickly. Just as she was about to punch, however, they were both suddenly drenched in a powerful wave of water, causing the girl's hair to fall in front of her face, the boy's hair sparking a bit. They both stood up, looking to see the culprit- a boy younger than the both of them, seemingly ten years old, with light cerulean hair that went down to his shoulders. He wore a dark blue shirt, with lighter blue long sleeves that passed his hands. He wore blue water-dotted black pants that cut off halfway down his shin, and he wore dark blue sandals with a watery feel to them. He was holding a sea-blue scale, like that of a fish, but it was shaped more thinly, almost like a tooth where it ended in a point. The tip was glowing- the pair knew this was how the object was used to control water.

"Quit it, already! You guys fight more than two angry bull sharks!" He snapped, though seeming a bit more poutish when he crossed his arms, sticking out his bottom lip just slightly. The two got up, the girl looking away angrily, arms crossed, and the boy looking much more relaxed, smiling at the younger boy. He walked up to him, ruffling his hair- causing the water spirit to frown even more- before laughing.

"Relax, Demitri. We weren't gonna kill each other or anything." He said, with another laugh as the girl glared back at him.

"Speak for yourself, Sparkhead." She snapped, before raising her hand. A swirl of winds circled her hand, before a volleyball swirling with winds appeared in her palm. With one quick, spinning motion, she pitched it, hurricane-speed winds surrounding it as it cometed towards the boy. He ducked with the speed of lightning, the ball hurtling past him and out the door of the room. A /thunk/ sounded as it collided with something. Not a moment later, a third boy walked through the entrance, holding the windball as if it were nothing. He gave the girl a look that said _"Really? Angry again?"_. At this point, Zoey had already stormed up to the boy, and snatched the sphere from his grip, stalking away.

"I don't need your input, Kanjir." Zoey grumbled, before stopping to lean her shoulder against the wall. Kanjir shook his head, before walking up to Demetri and the oldest boy. You see, Kanjir didn't like to use words if he didn't need to. Actions speak louder than words was a very literal saying for him. No one could really figure out why he did this, and the most anyone had ever managed to get out of him reminiscent to an explanation was when he told Demetri, "You don't need to give a speech to get a point across."

Kanjir gave a grin, cocking his head ever so slightly with a glimmer of curiosity in his eyes like a question. Demetri smiled happily, before he spoke.

"Zoey and Leo were about to kill each other again!" The water spirit said accusatively, yet slightly mischieviously, pointing at the pair who had been at each other's throats moments ago. Kanjir chuckled, before looking up at Leo as Demetri began to play with tiny water creatures he conjured up himself. He was crafting a few little dolphins, seahorses, and a sea star, along with some coral and kelp, all on top of his little scale-tooth. The young boy was actually very good at the practice, Kanjir thought.

"Where's the others?" Leo shrugged, before looking back to the fuming wind spirit and calling out to her.

"Yo! Zoey! Where are Spitfire and Songbird?" Kanjir held in another chuckle as Zoey sent a death glare back at Leo, who only grinned in response, as if completely oblivious to the girl's anger.

"I dunno, Sparky, maybe you shot them out of the sky!" Leo put a hand to his chin as if to think, before he shook his head slowly.

"No... I think I would've remembered something like that." The earth spirit rolled his eyes. The two really did bicker like siblings. If Kanjir didn't know any better, he would've sworn they even looked a little alike.

Demitri looked up at that moment, the water he was morphing falling into a puddle at his feet.

"Alex went to Turgon this morning." Kanjir wasn't surprised he knew- Demetri seemed to really look up to the sun spirit. Zoey looked over at the pair from glaring up at Leo, her expression a mixture of exasperation and knowing annoyance.

"Turgon? I swear, if I had a nickel for every time I heard she'd gone there, I'd be richer than the guy who invented the radio!" Zoey remarked crossly, rolling her eyes. And it was true. Recently, Alex had been spending a lot of time in Turgon. But then again, it was pretty difficult to keep track of the fiery redhead anyway, so Turgon was where they tended to look for her.

Turgon was a quaint little town- not too busy, not too big- with one-story houses, mostly made of brick. The people who lived there were friendly, and the stories of the Spirits of the Elements- Alex, Demetri, Kanjir, and a few others- were told heartfeltly, and cherished. The children were always found playing, whether it be playing pretend, playing adventure, or anything, or sometimes even running around together looking for the Spirits themselves! Of course, none of the children, no matter how hard they looked, ever found any of them, as, even if the Spirit wanted to be found, no mortal could see a Spirit. It had been that way for centuries, and would be that way forever.

But no one seemed to mind. Just knowing that there were children who believed in them, or seeing people enjoying the happiness they brought to the kids, made them happy enough.

"Did I hear my name? Aw, you guys miss me already!" A cheeky voice broke through everyone's thoughts. Not a moment later, Alexandra herself flew in through the entrance, floating a few inches above the ground with her arms crossed, hands over her heart, a mock-touched look on her face. Zoey merely rolled her eyes at the fiery sun spirit's attitude.

"Speak of the devil." At that, it wasn't a moment later that Alex had the wind spirit in a friendly headlock, giving her a not-too-hard noogie.

"It's okay, Zo! I'm sure everyone missed you too!" Zoey finally pulled her head free, bending her neck a bit to get the feeling back into it as she gave Alex an annoyed gaze. Before things could go downhill again, Kanjir made to move between them. But, to his surprise, it was actually Leo who stepped in first, stepping between the two girls.

"Ladies, ladies, save the catfights for after the meeting!" Zoey gave Leo a mixed look of disgust and annoyance at his arrogance, but Leo had already turned to Alex.

"Anyways, Alex, did you see Kate on your way here?" Alex looked up at Leo, the tiniest hint of a pout on her face as it normally did when she realized how tall the older immortal boy was, before the usual grin returned to her face, and she nodded.

"Mm-hm! In fact..." At that moment, a flash of white burst in the door, streaking around the room before coming to a stop on top of Demetri's head, causing the young boy to smile, and laugh a bit.

"...here she is now!" Alex finished, grinning widely, before holding out her hands. The little white creature- a beautiful soft white dove (partridge)- left its perch atop Demetri's head and landed gently in her palms, sounding a few pretty notes. Its dark blue eyes seemed to glow with personality and life.

_"Sorry I took so long!"_ A playful, energetic young female voice sounded in their heads, as clearly as if someone was speaking aloud.

_"I was busy teaching the baby robins their spring songs!" _The voice piped, boundless energy reverberating behind the words. The little dove gave an excited-sounding trill, before jumping down from Alex's palm, spreading its wings to glide as it headed towards the ground.

The moment the small white bird spread its wings, however, its body began to morph, glowing a soft white light that got larger by the moment. Its bones grew longer, becoming sturdier and heavier, though still substantially lighter than a normal child's. The feathers shrunk, regrew, and shifted to follow the morph, the color turning to a kaleidoscope of beautiful hues of white, silver, blue, pink, red, purple, green, yellow, gold, orange, and every other color of the rainbow. Even the edges of the smallest feathers were tinted in shades of blacks and greys. In the end, a humanoid figure stood in the room, almost all of her skin except parts of her neck, face, and hands covered in soft, downy feathers. Longer feathers lined the far edges of her arms, somewhat resembling small wings. Her feet looked like the talons of a bird, and her fingers- five of them- looked similar to talons as well. Her hair was soft and white, with highlights of all colors streaking through the feathery locks. Her large dark sapphire eyes sparkled with the same life and vigor of the small bird that had been there moments ago. She looked to be about eleven years old, but she was as energetic as a newborn baby chick. When she spotted Leo, she scurried over to him, a grin plastered on her face as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Hi, Leo!" She said gleefully, looking up at him. She then looked at the others.

"Hi, everybody!" The young birdling exclaimed in a friendly manner. Truthfully, she could shift to a full humanoid form, but she much preferred this half-form. Leo smiled down at her, ruffling her hair.

"Hey, kiddo. How ya been doin'?" He asked warmly. Katelyn- or, Kate, as most had grown accostomed to calling her- was the newest member of their group- this was her fortieth year with the Spirits. They'd found her when she'd gotten lost on her way to Canada to spread the inspiration of song. It had been quite unusual when a huge goose had flown in- she used this form to "hitch a ride" with some Canadian geese flying back north for spring- but it all fell into place when she started to panic and everyone heard her voice in their heads.

"Great! I love to get to sing to everyone!" It was true- Kate was the only one who could, in some way, be seen and heard by mortals. When she morphed into a bird, the humans- though, mostly the children- could see her, and hear her birdsong. When she had to give adults inspiration, she had the ability to speak into their minds, though none of them ever thought that she was tthe on to thank. They were always selfish, thinking each and every idea was their own. But Kate loved what she did anyway, even when she never got a thank you.

Kate let go of Leo, before looking around at everyone, her happy-go-luckiness giving way to a more curious aura.

"So why are we here, anyway?" It was Zoey who answered, finally breaking her long silence.

"Because Sparky here doesn't know when to back off!" She snapped, aiming the barbed comment at the lightning spirit in the room. Leo looked over at her, his lighthearted persona giving way for just a moment to a vicious glare, but it lasted for hardly an instant before he became snarky once again.

"Really, now? It's not my fault if you happen to come onto the scene while I'm busy causing the thunderstorm of the century." Zoey's eyes widened in disbelieving shock, before narrowing angrily again.

"What?! You're blaming _me_ for the typhoon?!" She took a few steps towards him, gripping her windball tightly in her palm. The gentle breeze outside began to pick up, but only slightly.

At this point, Kate had backed off a bit, eyes wide as she regretted asking, but she stopped when she backed into Kanjir. Kanjir himself looked as if he had seen this countless times before- and he probably had- and so he looked almost bored, but as Kate bumped into him, he placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. Demetri was looking a bit intimidated, but still managed to keep his cool. Alex was looking kind of pumped, almost as if she was watching a baseball game and a player was starting to fight with the ref. Kanjir sighed inwardly at that- Alex had always "supported" violence, especially if it caused trouble.

Leo, on the other hand, rolled his eyes, not yet showing any signs of anger.

"_Nooooo_! Wind _never_ causes _typhoons_! I'm just saying you just happened to be there when the almighty Typhoon King decided to let the earth feel his rain of terror!" He said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. At that comment, Kanjir rolled his shoulder, still feeling the tremors that had vibrated through the earth when that twister had nearly cracked it open at one point. It had been one _powerful_ twister. Zoey, on the other hand, was finally fed up with Leo, and, while the gray-skinned boy was chuckling at his own humor, she pitched her windball at his head, hitting him hard on the side of the head.

Slowly raising a hand to where there was now a bruise forming on his head, Leo turned to Zoey, his facial features slowly shifting from stunned shock to annoyed anger, his eyes narrowing. Zoey smiled darkly, finally getting the fight she was looking for as Leo drew his hands into fists, electricity sparking from his knuckles as his entire demeneor darkened. The faint sound of thunder began to echo to accompany the strengthening wind outside, but the Spirits all knew that this was what always happened when Zoey and Leo got into a scuffle, so Alex and Kanjir drew the two younger spirits back, Kanjir rolling his eyes at the absurdity of the wind and storm spirits' anger. But he knew that it would be catastrophic if any of them tried to intervene, so they had no choice but to let them blow off some steam.

"You and your big MOUTH! You just never know when to shut up, do you!?" Zoey yelled, spinning and chucking her windball at Leo, a powerful wind cycloning around it as it sailed forward. Leo jumped upwards, a cocky yet angered sneer on his face as he narrowly dodged the attack, landing right in front of her. With one quick right-hook, he sent a flash of electricity careening at Zoey. Thinking quick, she drew up her arms and crossed them in front of her, a gust of wind pushing upwards at the last moment, redirecting the lightning to hit the ceiling. Bits of rock crumbled from the cavelike ceiling, but the two were too locked in combat to notice.

"Not my fault your little pride is so fragile, airhead!"

Demetri's eyes widened as he saw a flash of lightning outside the window, and Kanjir put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. Demetri had had a fear of lightning, but Kanjir had thought the boy had gotten over it. But he would still comfort him if he needed it, as Demetri seemed to be whispering things under his breath, a look of panic on his face. Looking to the left, Kanjir noticed a look of deep thought on Alex's face. The earth spirit found that strange- he could've sworn Alex had been practically goading on the fight moments ago. Even Kate, who Alex was standing right behind, seemed to notice Alex's strange behavior. Kanjir's gaze suddenly snapped back to the fight at a loud clap, followed by a crash.

Leo had sent three bolts of lightning towards Zoey, the sheer energy of the sudden creation and launch of the electricity releasing a loud clap of thunder that shook the whole room, the tall windows rattling as the sky darkened. A few quick blasts of powerful wind managed to redirect the first bolt, the energy of the blast colliding with the ceiling instead. Zoey rode a strong breeze like a wave of water to dodge the second strike, the bolt instead hitting the wall behind her as she rode the "wave" upwards. She pitched another windball at the last one just as she began to fall back down. The two attacks collided with such power that the collision caused a gargantuan crash, the windows shattering at the force of the excess energy. The four spirits on the "sidelines" covered their ears to protect their hearing from the sound, Kanjir and Alex shielding the younger spirits from the glass as it fell through the air. The broken windows let in the wind and storm from outside, the wind blowing so powerfully it created a howl. Lightning flashed in the sky almost every second, earsplitting claps of thunder rolling through the sky.

Demetri was trembling now, terrified. Kanjir could see his lips moving, but the wind made it impossible to make out what the young water spirit was saying. Alex was shielding Kate, who was covering her ears desperately, face scrunched up in pain. Her hearing was very sensitive, and Kanjir could only guess how loud this storm was to her, as the noise was already making his own ears ring. Kate was also trying to say something- louder than Demetri, screaming- but even then the thunder and the howling wind carried the sound of her voice away. Kanjir caught Alex's gaze- a rare look of seriousness on the sun spirit's face- and the two nodded at each other. This needed to stop, before things got too out of hand.

Turning to the two- who were still fighting, completely oblivious to their surrounding- Kanjir watched as they viciously attacked each other, acting like wild animals as bolts of lightning and cyclones of wind shot through the air. Alex ran to right below them, flying up at between them and holding out her hands on both sides, her fiery entrails glowing brighter as heat shot from her palms, colliding with a lightning bolt and a cyclone and vaporizing them in two columns of fiery red-orange flames. Leo and Zoey were instantly redirecting their glares at the one who had just interrupted their fight. Kanjir almost flinched as he slowly made his way over to the open windows, Demetri and Kate following- he had never seen that much pure anger in either of their eyes before. For just a moment, he wondered- what could make them that angry? But he quickly shook the thought, focusing on the task at hand as Alex snapped at the brawling spirits, not even a little bit deterred by their glares.

"You're both idiots! While you two are here fighting like two year old brats, you're causing the storm of the century!" Kanjir had never heard Alex speak so coldly before, he realized as he made it to the nearest window, commanding the earth to raise him and the two younger spirits high enough to see outside. It shocked Leo and Zoey into silence as she continued, but Alex could still clearly see the angered glint in both of their eyes.

"At this rate, you'll wipe out half of the East Coast!" What Kanjir saw nearly made him lose control of the piece of earth holding the trio up. Demetri's eyes widened even more, and he began to worriedly murmur to himself even more frantically. Kate gasped, taking a step back and almost falling off the platform. Kanjir quickly stepped forward and caught her, getting her back to her feet before turning to the three in the air. He had to get their attention.

"Hey! Guys!" He yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to try to be louder. Although, as the earth spirit, he had a loud voice, even he couldn't yell over the storm /and/ an angry sun spirit, who was still yelling at the others. Who knew she could be so loud?

But Kanjir's mind kept moving. Another quirk of being the spirit of the earth was being unable to fly. If he didn't think of something fast, they were in trouble.

Going with the first thing that popped in his head, Kanjir broke a piece of rock off the platform they were standing on, forming his rock disc, and flung it at them. As always, it hit its mark, smacking first Leo, then Zoey and Alex on its return. The three now even more enraged spirits turned to face him just as he caught the rock disc, and he wasted no time pointing out the window, his gaze hard. As soon as the trio looked out the window, their expressions changed to those of shock, surprise, and slight fear. For just a moment, the storm and the wind seemed to silence. Demetri's mutterings, now even more frantic, finally became clear.

"He's coming, he's coming, he's coming..." Demetri's eyes were now closed, as if he could just disappear if he tried hard enough. Kanjir got down on one knee, and put his hands on Demetri's shoulders, looking him right in the eyes as he looked back at him.

"Who's coming, Demetri?" The young water spirit's eyes were full of fear- but, as he spoke, Kanjir finally realized that the lightning had not been what he was so terrified of. He spoke quietly, but the words hit them all as hard as if he had screamed them.

"Dakkadda. Demon of Death."

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the wall right next to them crashed in, the energy of whatever broke in launching all six of them to the other side of the room. Demetri's body was ripped away from Kanjir just as he grabbed for him. Before he even had the chance to scream, his head smashed into the wall, and his world went black.

**Sorry I took so long! Bad internet connection! But I should have about four chapters up today! They're not very good... but I try to write well! Please review and tell me what you think! Even criticism is welcomed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yep- another one! Told ya! See, part of the problem is that I write all these down on an app called My Writing Spot on my Nook Color. Previously, I would have to retype the whole thing in Microsoft Word to get it on here. And that was a pain! But now, I've figured out that I can e-mail my documents in My Writing Spot to myself, so now I can get them on here easier! Yay! As always, please review, hug a polar bear, and I don't own Rise of the Guardians no matter how much I wish I did!**

"Ow..." Kate got up slowly, one hand on her head as the other held her partially off the ground. Her head was pounding, and her ears were ringing... Suddenly, her head shot up, though she grit her teeth as she tried to ignore the pain in her skull.

"Oh no!" The explosion! Kate looked around, hastily, yet carefully, standing up, her heart breaking as she saw what remained of their castle. The once-magnificent stone structure was now in ruins. The walls had been completely obliterated, barely any stone left standing. Broken pieces of stone were everywhere, many lying in crumbling heaps around the main room. The beautiful murals that had been on the walls were shattered to pieces. Kate sniffled as she picked up a piece of stone with an intricate flower on it- a shard of her favorite mural. She gently set it down on a nearby stack of rocks, swallowing hard as she walked a few steps forward. She could barely tell where anything was anymore, the only indication that she was still in the vicinity of the main room being the broken mural and the large rocks outside of the destroyed walls of the castle, as the castle had been built so that most of it was in a "pocket" in a large mountain. Kate's vision was still dark in some places, but she knew complete destruction when she saw it. And this was it.

Suddenly, one thought pushed itself to the front of Kate's mind, her eyes snapping open.

"Kanjir! Demetri! Leo!" She cried out desperately, swinging her head from side to side. She began to run around, looking for the other spirits through all the rubble. She wasn't very strong, but that was the last thing on her mind as she struggled to toss bits of stone aside, searching frantically.

"Zoey! Alex!" She called, her voice breaking in despair. Tears brimmed behind her eyelids as Katelyn squeezed her eyes shut, wishing desperately that this was some kind of horrible nightmare. But deep down, she knew it was true. Her home... it was destroyed. Gone. The castle had been standing for thousands of years until the Spirits had found it, and had been there for hundreds of years since. But now, just like that, it was over. There was no way to rebuild its walls. And the spirits... Her family... Kate put a hand over her mouth as sobs finally began to rack her small frame, tears overflowing from her broken blue eyes. She collapsed to her hands and knees, letting out all of her sadness as she tightly gripped the remains of the torn rug underneath of her fingers. Her crying echoed sadly through the empty, broken castle, the feeling of hopelessness too much for her to bear.

Eventually, Katelyn stopped, pulling herself up to lean against a large slab of stone. She hugged her arms around herself, feeling small in the towering debris. Her breathing came a little heavier as her sobbing quieted, but tears continued to flow down her face. She slowly looked around at the haunting, empty, destroyed castle, her throat constricting as she tried to collect herself.

But it was too much. The wave of tears began anew, her sobbing and sniffling loud and now unbarred, as she finally let it all out. Her face was turning light red as her tiny frame racked with sobs, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she tried not to think about the silence around her. No matter how she looked at it, though, it was inevitable. She was completely and totally alone.

Unable to bear the silence, Katelyn began to scream out, barely finding the time to breathe between the outbursts and her sobs.

"Kanjir! You promised you'd always be there if I needed you! You and Alex both! You lied! You lied!" The tears were coming faster, and she began to gasp for breath before each ranting scream.

"Come back! I need you! Demetri, come out! This isn't funny! Leo, Zoey, please!" She screamed out, desperate for someone to come out, for Demetri to walk out from between those two rocks and flounder apologies for making her cry, like he always did when he tried to prank people with Alex. She wanted to see Alex float down from between the broken rafters, with that same teasing smile she always wore, and give Katelyn a warm hug to make her feel better. From the bottom of her heart, she wished for Kanjir to come out from hiding beneath the ground, walk up to her with a gentle, loving smile, and to make her feel better. She would have given anything to see Zoey and Leo get up from the debris, and start yelling at each other like they always did, blaming each other for what happened while Alex would laugh.

Oh, how Katelyn desperately wished for that to happen. She wanted it more than anything she had ever wanted in all her years, in all her hopes and dreams this one outranked them all.

But fate was cruel. It did not choose to pity Katelyn. It turned a blind eye. That was how Katelyn's heart, broken and tattered, saw it, anyway. It had taken her friends away. It had taken her family, and left her all alone.

The screaming slowly faded. The tears dried up, no more tears left to be shed. The sobs finally quieted to hiccups, the sniffling became less frequent. Her eyelids drooped halfway, as she slowly began to numb. She was despairing, she was alone, but somehow, she had a tiny shred of hope. A small, shaky light of belief, of the pure, heartfelt wishfulness of a child. A tiny, seemingly insignificant presence deep in her heart so small, so deeply hidden Katelyn didn't see it.

But somewhere, somehow... someone else did. The small ray of hope touched a heart, in such a way that something wonderful happened. Something magic and beautiful.

Katelyn was beginning to fall asleep, no matter how much she didn't want to. Her senses dulled, her mind began to lose focus on reality. Her muscles relaxed, her hiccups eventually silenced, and her head leaned forward.

A soft white light broke through her steadily-fading vision. A figure stepped from the light, slowly approaching Katelyn. Something about it was... comforting. Its touch was like soft clouds, and it calmed Katelyn, as if reassuring that she was safe. A soft smile was on the figure's face, and their voice- that of a young girl, possibly even younger than Katelyn herself- was like a ray of white light, gentle and soothing.

"Shh... It's okay. I'm here... I'm here..." Those words continued to echo through Katelyn's subconscious even long after she fell asleep.

**Like I said before, I'm not that good (geez- my friend was right. I have ****_got _****to work on my low self-esteem..), so please don't hate me! Please review, and then Kozo the polar bear will be happy! Bye for now, my friends!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yet another one! Alright, now I've seen Rise of the Guardians, and it was great and all, but somehow, I ended up feeling a bit disappointed in it... Oh well. It was still great! Enjoy, and I obviously don't own Rise of the Guardians!**

"...ey... oey... hey... hey, Zoey... Wake up!"

"Mmm... meh.. come back later..."

"...time for this... find the others... and then... do it without... now GET UP!" The sudden shout coupled with the vigorous shaking of her shoulders finally got Zoey's eyes to open. Her vision was a blurred mass of colors as her eyes slowly adjusted, making out the shapes around her. The first thing she noticed was a head of dark black hair looking down at her.

"Mornin', sleeping beauty." A certain cockily cheeky voice quipped.

"Gaaahh!" Zoey let out a yell of surprise, quickly launching backwards- only to smack her head against something hard. She rubbed her head, looking back at the large dark brown boulder behind her with disdain before she turned to see Leo chuckling.

"Ha, ha, ha. Hilarious." The wind spirit snapped sarcastically as she dropped her hand to her side. She got to her feet, a bit shaky as she stumbled before gaining her balance. Leo finally stopped snickering, walking over to Zoey and ruffling her hair a bit.

"Nice to see you, too, Zo." He joked, as Zoey frowned and glared at him, batting his hand away. The wind spirit then looked around at their surroundings, her vision quickly sharpening into focus. They were... in a cave? This didn't look like the castle...

"Wonder where we are, huh, Twister?" Leo mused, his sarcasm dropped for the moment. Zoey was about to retaliate to the 'Twister' nickname, when he suddenly looked her dead in the eyes, the calm seriousness in his gaze silencing her.

"The others are gone. I looked around a bit before I found you. Dunno where we are, but it's definitely not with the others." Zoey thought about this. They didn't know where they were, or where the others were, or even how they'd gotten here...

"That's it!" Zoey exclaimed, eyes widening. Leo started at her sudden outburst, but recovered quickly.

"What's it?" Zoey rolled her eyes, before the lively spark of realization returned to her greyish eyes.

"That... _thing_! That big explosion! It sent us here! It separated all of us and sent us to different places!" The wind spirit was rambling at this point, but she didn't care. She was on a roll. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to remember something.

"What did Demetri call it... the... the..." she snapped her fingers. "Dakkadda! He called it Dakkadda!" Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Dakkadda? You mean, the demon from those little kids' stories? But that was just a myth-" Zoey interrupted him, still speaking in a mixture of excitement and dead-set seriousness.

"Think about it, Leo. /We're/ myths in that kind of sense. Who's to say we're the /only/ ones? How do we know there aren't others?" Leo was silent after Zoey stopped talking. For a moment, she wondered if he had even been listening. That thought was cut short, however, when he spoke up the next moment.

"...You've got a point. But... we still have to focus on what's happening. Right here, right now. And right now, we have to go find the others." Despite their differences and hatreds towards each other in the past, the two knew that they'd have to stick together to get this done. Zoey nodded, before the two walked out of the cave, stopping on the outcropping of rock in front of it. Below, a huge expanse of forest- one so large, it stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions. The trees were lush, dark green and tall, and their leaves created a sort of canopy over the top, hiding from the two spirits the mysteries of what might lay below. Zoey crouched down on the edge, scanning over the forest as Leo stood beside her. She closed her eyes, and wind blew up from the forest below, blowing around her. The wind seemed to mainly circulate around her head, the gusts causing her ponytail to seem to float. After a few moments, the wind left, returning to where it had been. Zoey stood up, a thoughtful, almost calculating look on her face.

"It's pretty big. Lots of flora and fauna, a bunch of wild animals- bugs, monkeys, birds. A couple tigers. Probably the biggest forest around. Looks like a few new creatures have popped up recently- way different from any animals living here." Leo couldn't help but be a little amazed every time she did that. As the wind spirit, she could actually /talk/ to the wind- it was pretty useful. Leo then turned to look at Zoey questioningly.

"Any chance they're our friends?" Zoey shrugged, though she had the slightest hint of a challenging (or taunting/teasing) smile on her face.

"Maybe." The smile grew full size, and she gestured to the forest with her head. "C'mon- let's check it out." She flew down, diving through the leaves with a shifting noise. Leo grinned, before jumping from the cliff, flying after her. This would take a while, but there was no way they were going to let this "_Dakkadda_" separate the team!

**Alright, several things. Firstly, if, in the previous chapter, there are any words or phrases with slashes surrounding them, then that means they were supposed to be in italics. My Writing Spot doesn't have any fancy options like italics or bold- only flat-out typing. And I'm in no mood to go back and edit it right now. Maybe I will later.**

**Secondly, although I already have an adequate ending planned for this story, I want to know what you guys think. I recently was struck with the idea to make this story blend into Rise of the Guardians, and eventually the two stories might meld together (for several reasons that only I, the author, would know at this point), and I want to know if you guys like the idea.**

**Finally, as always, please review! Reviews make me feel fuzzy and happy, even if they're mean! So please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Another one! Not much to say this time (that I can remember right now), so just read!**

A tall black shadow was walking through a dark cave. Click, clack, click, clack, went his shoes against the stone. His outwardly calm red eyes glittered with malice and ill will as he arrived at a dead end. There was hardly any light. But it didn't matter to the figure. He touched the wall, his shadowy black fingers spreading a burst of darkness across the wall. A huge circular pattern of lines of colors and intricate paintings was imprinted on the ancient red clay. A sadistic grin found its way to his face as a rumbling shook the cave, but he did not flinch.

"Soon, soon, my precious king. The pieces are lining up quite nicely." A dark chuckle escaped him. "Soon the house will divide, the pillars will cross, and the castle will crumble. Darkness... will rule."

Another rumbling echoed through the cave, this one slightly more violent. The figure sneered.

"The stray shadow? Merely a small pest. He shall meet his own end, in due time." A cold cackle escaped the figure's throat, dark and threatening. "The end of this world is near. Death and darkness, hand in hand..." A blink later, he was gone, disappeared without a trace.

**Yes, I realize this one was super-short. But it's supposed to be. Hey, I gave you several other chapters besides this one all in one day- in the same few minutes, actually! So don't hate for this one short chapter! Hehe! Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Man, my birthday's coming. December 18th. I used to always get snow on my birthday when I lived in Minnesota, or Connecticut. Maryland sucks. Maryland has been giving me so-totally-un-snowy birthdays since 2008. I want snow for my birthday!**

**Don't own nothin' but Kozo the polar bear, my original characters, and the song fragments of "Broken Castle", which I wrote myself. Can't sue me now!**

All Kanjir was aware of was the ringing in his ears. His skull was thumping, pain shooting through his body every time he took a step. His right ankle was twisted in a way he was sure wasn't natural, and he stumbled as he attempted to walk, using the rubble around him to help him stand, arms trembling as he tried to support his own weight. The ground was so unstable, destroyed, unfamiliar, that he couldn't sense anything through it. If anything, the ground's own trembling was sending his senses whirling even worse.

Suddenly, a shadow flew across his vision. He stumbled back, eyes wide, nearly falling over as he did so. The shadow flashed again, and this time, he followed it. Stumbling, tripping, cringing in pain, he rushed as fast as he could. His vision was blurry, his movements were stiff, and when he yelled out at the shadow to stop, his voice was so hoarse that his yell was hardly more than a harsh whisper.

Just when Kanjir thought he would drop, the shadow stopped a few feet ahead of him. Kanjir looked up, watching it, unsure of how to react and waiting for it to do something. The dark form, to the earth spirit's surprise, rose from the ground, shaping into... a person? It was a boy- a year or two younger than the earth spirit himself- with short, messy raven black hair and pale, humanlike skin. He had on what looked to be a leather jacket over a white t-shirt, black pants, and a pair of jet-black shoes Kanjir couldn't distinguish. But this boy practically radiated darkness. The earth spirit narrowed his eyes at him, but when they boy looked at him, he couldn't help but gape slightly at the red-flecked black orbs that looked into his own tan-brown ones. What surprised him the most, however, was the emotion in his eyes. It almost looked... gentle. Cautiously kind.

A bright flash suddenly went off right near the boy, and Kanjir had to look away, his vision going blurry again as the light set the ringing going again in his skull. When he looked back, he opened his eyes just in time to glimpse what looked to be a small child- a little girl with long, silvery-streaked black hair- beside the boy. Kanjir shook his head, snapping out of his stupor, and quickly moved forward, ignoring the pain in his ankle as he rushed to the pair. But just as he'd reached them, they disappeared in a flash of darkness and light. And just like that, Kanjir was completely alone.

The earth spirit finally fell to his knees, very confused, very sore, and very, very tired. His eyes drooped, his rock-colored eyes dull with pain and exhaustion. He felt as if all the energy was being drained from his body as he fell forward, just barely managing to catch himself with his hands. His breathing came rough and ragged, and the world began to spin around him. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out all the dizziness, the ringing in his ears, that humming drone that echoed behind the ringing...

Kanjir's eyes snapped open. That wasn't just a noise. It sounded... almost familiar. Struggling to quiet his breathing, the earth spirit pulled himself up with a rock, weakly willing the ground beneath it to rise a little higher so he could stand straight. He looked around blearily, searching for the sound...

_...never alone, you promised you'd stay by my side..._Kanjir's eyes widened, recognition in his gaze. It sounded like... Katelyn! The pain in his entire body forgotten, the exhaustion pushed to the back of his mind, Kanjir began to follow the soft, quiet voice that broke through the ringing in his ears. He stumbled and tripped over destroyed rubble, cutting into his callused palms and scraping his knees, but continuing to push on as the voice became quieter, his movements becoming more frantic, almost desperate, as he searched for the voice of his young friend. She was like a little sister to him. The spirits were his family, no matter how annoying or strange they could be.

_...here I am_  
_Fa-lling do-own_  
_Spi-nning out of control_

_My heart is a ca-stle_  
_And it's bro-ken_  
_Please, won't someone save me?_

The voice was getting closer. Kanjir suddenly tripped on a large stone with a hoarse cry of surprise. He went tumbling, before he stopped, catching himself with his hands. The singing voice stopped, a gasp of surprise sounding from right in front of him. Ignoring the sting, Kanjir pushed himself up, lifting his head to look right into the deep blue eyes of a certain white-feathered face. A shriek of happiness split through the momentarily silent air, and next thing he knew, Kanjir had two small, feathery arms wrapped around his neck, and he had to hold them both up with one hand as he hugged Kate back with the other. A soft, gentle smile was on the earth spirit's face as Kate cried tears of joy, her body shaking with small sobs.

"I-I thought you were d-d-dead! I thought I w-was alone ag-gain! I-I thought- I thought-" She looked up at him for a moment, eyes red and puffy, before she continued again, squeezing him harder.

"B-But you're here! You're here! You're here..." Kanjir comforted her, hushing her gently. He sat up straight, putting a finger beneath her chin and gently lifting her head to look at him, a soft, warm smile adorning his features.

"I'm here." He said simply. The two words were enough to make Kate smile, that friendly, joyous smile that Kanjir knew belonged on the song spirit's face, and she hugged him hard, her tears gone now, and she responded, in a quiet, overjoyed small voice.

"Yeah... yeah." They sat there a few minutes, in the same position. After some time passed, Kanjir attempted to move- to sit up and get Kate off of him- but quickly realized his attempts were futile. Kate had fallen asleep, her breathing light and calm. With an amused grin on his face, Kanjir adjusted his position, flicking his wrist upwards to summon a small slab of stone for him to lean against. He finally relaxed, one arm wrapped protectively around Kate, and let his eyes fall closed. He would follow Kate's example. If they hoped to find the others, they would have to rest.

Perhaps Kanjir would not have rested so easily if he had seen the flicker of shadow behind the piles of rubble. Perhaps he would have awoken Kate, would have tried to move them to a safer place, had he listened a little closer to his surroundings.

For if he had, he would have heard the ominous words spoken as he drifted to sleep.

"It is time."

**Boom! Another chapter! Please review, or the ominous voice will be in your nightmares tonight! Oh, and this'll probably be the last chapter for a while. Sorry. I can only post every two weeks cuz of my internet... SNOW DAY!**


	8. Chapter 8

_**I realize only now that I have broken many laws of time (I don't think Americans knew about Mexican food a long time ago), but just ignore that, okay? I'll just take creative liberty here, and we can all overlook it. Sorry this chapter both took so long and it sucks- I especially hate the ending, because I wanted to do something else, but I couldn't make it work, so I'll just have to cope. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon, but I'd like to share now that I only have internet access every other weekend. So, this weekend, then the weekend after next, then the weekend after the weekend after that, then... you get the picture. Anyway, this is another Alex chapter. It's kind of confusing... the story underwent a lot of changes already!**_

_**Okay, Imma stop rambling now. I don't own anything but the plot and my original characters (which most of them are), or else I so would make a How to Train Your Dragon/Rise of the Guardians/Brave/Tangled ultimate adventure crossover movie, throw in Meet the Robinsons, and then have NO ROMANCE, just ACTION and AWESOME! Yet, unfortunately, I do not own Dreamworks, so I must deal with just writing these. Sigh...**_

"Hey... are you okay...? Jesse...eck her pulse..." Cold fingers touched Alex's neck. She gave a cry of surprise, the chill like a static shock or a slap to her own hot skin. Her eyes snapped open and she straightened, the hand jerking away as the sun spirit looked around wildly, blinking to try to focus her blurry vision. A hand returned to lay on her shoulder, and a voice said something, but she couldn't make it out in her panic. She struck out, swinging an arm around with a yell, her mind instantly thinking _Enemy_. The memory of the dark power, of the explosion at the castle, fresh on her mind.

So it surprised the teen when a voice- quite human, actually- cried out.

"Owch! Jeez, violent much?" Alex didn't respond, as she was sitting completely still, her mind trying to process the situation. Another voice spoke during her stupor, a chortle sounding through the air.

"Smooth, Jay. You sure have a way with the ladies, don'tcha?" As Alex's vision cleared, she made out the forms of the people around her. There were two, both boys, that seemed to be teenagers. About her age. Her _immortal _age, anyway. One had short black hair, with brown eyes and fair skin. He wore a black t-shirt, a red and white zip-up sweatshirt, jeans, and white and blue sneakers. That one was rubbing his cheek.

_Whoops._

The other boy had light skin as well, with blue eyes and somewhat curly blonde hair. He wore a white hoodie with various words in thin black letters across it, blue jeans, and white sneakers. Alex figured he was the one who had talked first- it was obvious he was trying not to burst out in laughter.

By now, Alex could see completely clearly, and her head was starting to clear as well, and she took in her surroundings as the two boys started to argue.

A large lake was nearby, not four feet to Alex's right. The clear blue water reflected the light of the sun- the sun was in the middle of the sky, Alex noted; she'd have to remind herself to send it westward sooner than usual, since winter was on its way. It was about time she brought the sun's warmth to the southern hemisphere. The tiny fish beneath the surface of the water darted from cover to cover in the shadows of the reeds and the tall grass at the edges of the lake. It was really beautiful- but Alex didn't really go too close to the water. The sun /was/ a ball of fire, after all, and fire and water don't mix.

Alex snapped to attention when she realized that someone had been talking to her. She blinked, tilting her head just slightly in question.

"What?" She asked, her voice surprisingly hoarse, so it came out sounding like a strangled mule. But the boys got the message, and the first boy- the one she'd hit upon her awakening- spoke up.

"I said, who are you, anyway?" Both boys seemed to be interested in the question now, so Alex shrugged, before she answered.

"My name's Alexander. But I like Alex better." She answered, completely truthfully. "Who are you?" She mirrored the question back at them, her casual smirk on her face once again, though a glint of questioning was in her fiery gaze. It ended up being the blonde who answered first, a huge grin on his face, as he pointed his thumb at himself.

"Name's Dylan." Dylan set his arm on the other boy's shoulder heavily, causing the other boy to lurch to the side a bit, but he caught himself just as Dylan spoke again.

"And this here is Jay-Jay! She's an ugly girl, but you can look past that!" "Jay-Jay" frowned instantly, narrowing his eyes at Dylan, before he ducked back, knocking Dylan into the grass. This time it was his turn to laugh, as Dylan shook grass out of his hair. Alex laughed, too, and Dylan couldn't keep the annoyed look on his face for more than five seconds before he cracked a smile as well. Jay-Jay then looked at Alex, a look of apologetic humor on his face.

"Sorry about him. He has issues." He was obviously joking, Alex could tell. "I'm a guy." He held out his hand to Alex. "Jesse McHenry." Alex gave a big smile, taking Jesse's hand and shaking it vigorously.

"Nice to meet ya!" Jesse took his hand back after a few moments, shaking it.

"You have one strong grip!" Alex laughed, before Dylan and Jesse stood up. Alex stood as well, and Dylan spoke next.

"So why were you passed out on the ground, anyway?" Alex's expression turned to one of confusion. Passed out..?

"Oh, right!" She exclaimed, realization dawning on her. A grin on her face again, she explained. "Got into a little scuffle, caught off guard." The sun spirit answered truthfully, before looking around in slight disbelief for the second time at her notably-unfamiliar surroundings. "Don't know how I got here, though." Jesse frowned, before Dylan stood up.

"What kind of heartless person would knock out such a helpless girl?" He said overdramatically. Jesse rolled his eyes, while Alex raised an eyebrow. Helpless? She wasn't helpless...

Before she knew it, Dylan had looped his arm around her own, and she started when Dylan suddenly started pulling her forward, though she followed after a moment.

"We can't just leave you here! Come on- you can come to my house. Jay-Jay, you too!" Jesse frowned, and Dylan laughed. "My mom's at work, so we can just make lunch for ourselves. My treat!" He said jokingly. Jesse was walking beside Alex, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the overwhelmed expression on the mysterious girl's face. Dylan could be very... _excited_, at times.

Alex was a little shocked, but it didn't last long. These two were obviously no threat. Not to mention, they were pretty fun to hang around, especially considering they were-

Alex froze, stopping abruptly. Jesse and Dylan looked at their new friend in concern, but her gaze remained locked on the ground, confusion and slight worried panic in her gaze. Suddenly, her head snapped up to look at the other two, the powerful serious, cautious gaze that met theirs shocking them enough for Dylan to flinch away, before standing by Jesse, both in front of her. A faint singe had appeared on Dylan's shirt sleeve, but no one paid it any mind. As Alex spoke, her voice had a tone of ominous caution that nearly made the two boys turn tail and run.

"When you look at me... what do you see?" Both boys looked at her like she was a loon, but- although slightly hesitantly- Jesse took a step forward, speaking.

"Well... a normal girl, I guess." He began, the normal easygoing confidence in his voice wavering slightly to uncertainty. "Reddish-brown hair, pale skin." He hesitated before he spoke again. "...Why do you ask?" The tense apprehension in the air was as thick as metaphorical pea soup that no one ever gets to eat because it's metaphorical and it makes no sense.

Suddenly, Alex broke out in a grin, laughing hard. She elbowed Jesse in a friendly way- a little strong, noted, causing the boy to grunt- before she spoke again.

"Relax, Jay-Jay! I'm just messing with you!" There was a split second of tense, confused silence before Dylan broke out in laughter as well.

"Nice one! You really had him going, too! The way his voice was shaking!" Jesse finally snapped out of the stupor as well, giving Dylan a look of accusative mischief.

"At least I could speak! You looked like you would drop dead in terror if a rabbit jumped you!" The trio began heading for the town again as the two continued to bicker playfully.

"I was _not_ that scared!" Alex tuned them out as they continued to argue. Her gaze found its way to the scarves around her neck, as she raised it in front of her face in her palm. The colors looked as they normally did- vibrant, bright, a fiery combination of reds, yellows, and oranges. But she couldn't shake the notion that it almost looked like the colors were... fading. In all the years she had been leading the sun across the sky, the scarves had stayed as bright as always, never fading even when they lit aflame. Why would they suddenly start fading?

A nudge snapped the sun spirit out of her thoughts. She looked up from her scarves, letting them drop once again, just in time to see Dylan gesture up at a two-story tan house.

"Welcome to Casa de Dylanõ!" He took out a small key as they walked up to the door. With a tiny _click_, the door opened, and Dylan bowed slightly as Alex passed, before he and Jesse entered. The place wasn't much, with white walls, wooden floors, and some carpets. The living room they entered into had a blue couch, with a dark brown wooden desk next to the television. It was an average-sized flat screen hanging on the wall, and over top of it was a large painting of a huge ocean. The dining room had similar wooden furniture, with a rectangular table with six chairs- one on each end, and two on each side. Dylan led them to the sit in the tables, before he went into the kitchen.

"What would the lovely lady and the fine gentleman like to eat?" Alex covered her mouth, trying to hold in laughter as Jesse leaned over, explaining that Dylan wanted to be a chef.

"He's actually a really good cook." Jesse grinned, before calling back at his blonde-haired friend.

"The usual!" Dylan gave a call of "kay!" before the sounds of a "chef" at work filled the air. A few moments of awkward silence passed, before Jesse attempted to speak.

"So... where'd you come from? Y'know, before you passed out?" Alex tensed. How did she answer that question? She didn't even know why these boys could suddenly see her.

"Well, uh, actually, I-" She was saved as a squeal sounded from the hallway by the front door, opposite the living room. Before Alex could react, a little girl with long red hair was already running up to her. A big smile was on her face, her blue eyes shimmering with excitement.

"Hi! Hi, hi! Who are you? Are you Dylan's girlfriend?" Alex only kept a straight face for about two seconds before she burst out into laughter, smiling widely. The little girl was confused for a moment, before she smiled and giggled as well. Alex bent over a bit and ruffled the seven-year-old's hair, before she shook her head.

"No, sorry! I don't date people who drag me out of a forest!" Jesse made a fake-disappointed expression, speaking with a melodramatic voice.

"Doth that mean that I haveth no chance with the fair maiden?" Alex laughed, elbowing the blue-eyed boy lightly.

"Sorry, Shakespeare." Jesse broke out in a grin as well,chuckling a bit as Alex turned to the little girl again.

"And who is this little firefly?" Alex asked, smiling at the little nickname she thought of. Jesse stood up, walking around Alex's chair to stand by the little girl. He squatted down beside her, smiling as the girl gave him a quick hug.

"This is Rose, Dylan's younger sister." Rose grinned, hugging Jesse around his neck.

"Jay! Jay-Jay!" Jesse chuckled a bit, before slipping out of Rose's grip, standing up.

"They have another sister, but she's in college." Jesse explained, stepping out of the way as Rose ran up to Alex again. Alex grinned, crouching down as Rose pulled on her hand. Rose narrowed her eyes, seeming to be concentrating very hard as she looked right at Alex's eyes. Alex raised an eyebrow with a small half-smile, until Rose suddenly broke out in a somewhat victorious, excited grin.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Rose exclaimed gleefully, hugging Alex around the neck. The immortal teen had to catch herself with her arms to avoid falling back from the force of the hug, but she still managed to laugh, giving Rose a questioning grin.

"You knew what, firefly?" Rose laughed again giddily, before pointing at the Alex's eyes and hair.

"I knew I saw you! You fell! Like a shooting star! Alexandra!" Both Alex and Jesse looked confused at this. Jesse wondered how on earth Rose had already known Alex's name, and why she would think Alex had "fallen" like a star. Alex wondered the same thing, except instead, she was more worried about her shooting star fall Rose claimed to have witnessed.

Any further thoughts were promptly cut off when Rose rolled her eyes, standing up, allowing Alex to stand up as well.

"A shooting star! You know, Jesse! The one I saw last night! I wished on it! I wished to meet the spirits, and now I got my wish! I knew it was you! You're the sun spirit!" Rose giggled again, a huge grin about to split her face in half as she hugged Alex again. Alex was shocked to say the least- Jesse just looked plain stunned. He shook it off, though, and walked over to Rose. The little redhead looked over to him in slight question as he crouched down again, a slightly amused smile on his face.

"Rose... this isn't the sun spirit. This is Alex. We found her in the forest." Alex nearly spoke out at that, but held her tongue at the very last moment. Not the sun spirit? She could burn off his hair if she wanted to! She inwardly sighed. A non-believer. It made sense, though. It was usually little kids who believed in the spirits.

But that still didn't explain why this little girl knew who Alex was. Why Dylan and Jesse could see her. Why she was here, why she fell into the forest like a comet.

Alex's thoughts were reeling while Rose kept trying to convince Jesse that Alexandra was _the_ Alexandra, the sun spirit. It was starting to make her head pound, and she closed her eyes to try to block it all out, to calm her mind. Nothing was making any sense anymore...

Her eyes snapped open at when Dylan walked back into the dining room, carrying a few plates. He gave a grin to Rose, who, completely forgetting the point she had been trying to prove to Jesse, quickly ran up to him, jumping up and down.

"I thought I heard the little redhead of terror enter the room." Dylan teased, to which Rose frowned grumpily.

"Hey!" Dylan laughed, the look on his little sister's face priceless.

"Kidding, kidding!" He turned to all three of them. "Now sit down, my friends, so you may enjoy yet another culinary feat of the great Dylanõ!" As everyone took their seats again- Alex sat beside one head of the table, Rose to her left, Jesse across from her, while Dylan would sit at the head- "Dylanõ" set down the plates he was carrying in front of each of them. The dishes were two soft, yellowish objects, each with various substances inside colored brown, green, and red. On the side was what looked like breadsticks shaped in a sort of half-circle layout, except these had some kind of brown-red substance beside them. Dylan put drinks beside the plates, fizzing blackish liquids inside of them. As an immortal, Alex didn't need to eat very often. And even then, it was usually just a little meat or fruits that she could find all over the place. And she'd never had to drink much before- being the sun spirit, any liquids she came near would vaporize within a few mere moments. She hadn't seen anything like these before, but judging by Jesse and Rose's reactions, the dishes weren't that strange. In fact, they looked quite pleased.

"Soft tacos! And yummy breadsticks!" Rose exclaimed, grabbing a breadstick, dipping it in the brownish red substance, and eating it earnestly. Jesse grinned at Dylan, picking up his own "taco", as Rose had called it.

"No one makes'em quite like you do, my friend. And free, too!" He joked. Dylan bowed, before making a wagging motion with his finger.

"Free? I never said it was free! You owe me about fifty bucks by now!" He snapped in a tone that Alex couldn't tell whether it was sarcasm or not. But when Jesse laughed, before biting into his own taco, Alex figured he was kidding. Dylan sat down as well, and quickly dug in.

Alex fidgeted for a moment. She didn't quite know how to do this. After slight hesitance, she looked over to Jesse out of the corner of her eye, trying to watch what he did. Jesse caught her slightly confused gaze, and met it with one of his own for a moment, before realization lit in his eyes. He grinned, swallowing the food in his mouth before he spoke.

"Never eaten Mexican before?" He asked with a knowing look. Alex smiled weakly, before shaking her head. Jesse chuckled, before picking up his taco again.

"It's really good, trust me." Rose cut in, speaking through her breadstick.

"Juthst make shure the shtuff inside doeshn't fall owt!" She said through her mouthful, before swallowing and continuing to eat. Jesse shook his head at her, before looking to Alex again.

"Go on, dig in!" He said, before continuing to eat his own food. Alex smiled back, before looking down at her plate hesitantly. She picked up her "taco" awkwardly, giving it a look before she brought it up to her lips, biting into it cautiously.

The taste exploded in her mouth. The brown stuff was some kind of meat, and the red and green substances were somewhat similar to the fruits and wild plants she'd eaten before, except spicy. The spicy part made her eyes water just a bit, but she didn't notice, quickly taking another bite. She took a moment to chew and swallow, before she grabbed one of the breadsticks, dipping it in the brown substance like Rose had before biting into it. It was all so good! The sun spirit washed it all down with a drink of the dark brown liquid, which fizzled and made her eyes water more than the taco, but it tasted really good, before she returned to the taco.

She didn't notice the silence that had befallen the table until she was just about finished with the first taco (which took about five seconds), and she froze mid-bite. Everyone was staring at her, slack-jawed, though Rose had a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, giggling a little. Alex gave a slightly nervous grin, unsure of what she'd done wrong, but knowing that she'd made a mistake.

"I think she likes your cooking, Dylan!" Jesse finally broke the awkward silence, a huge smile spreading across his face as he laughed. Rose laughed, too, and Alex finally relaxed. It was then that she remembered that normal people don't usually scarf down their food. But then again, when you've lived for more than a couple centuries and your only company is a group of spirits that don't mind your weird tendencies, those habits didn't really stick out as 'strange' in your mind.

Dylan gave a loose grin at Alex's relaxing after being so tense, and he chuckled.

"Relax, Alex! It's nice to know someone enjoys my cooking so much!" With a smile, he returned to his food. Alex gave a relieved, yet amused grin, and returned to eating as well.

For humans... these people weren't so bad.

**_I'm sorry it sucked! Don't kill me! I have a polar bear ARMY! And a dragon! But this one chapter was, like, 3,000-something words long, compared to the usual thousand or so words, so at least be happy for that! R&R, and MAYBE I'll tell Rudy to go easy on you!_**


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